PhD Studentship: Physiological Mechanisms of Social Ageing in European Rabbits - BBSRC SWBio DTP PhD studentship 2025 Entry

About:

The BBSRC-funded SWBio DTP involves a partnership of world-renown universities, research institutes and industry, based mainly across the South West and Wales.

This partnership has established international, national and regional scientific networks, and widely recognised research excellence and facilities.

We aim to provide you with outstanding interdisciplinary bioscience research training, underpinned by transformative technologies.

Project Description

Loneliness in older age is an established and significant social challenge. Loneliness is linked to reduced wellbeing and health, especially in older individuals. Importantly, it is becoming increasingly clear that increasing social isolation with age is not unique to humans, and is in fact widespread across animals. However, the causes of these changing patterns of social behaviour with age remain largely unknown. 

An important mechanism that has been proposed, but remains untested, is that physiological changes with age drive changes in social behaviour. For example, muscular degeneration with age (e.g. loss of muscle mass, muscle strength, muscle efficiency) might drive different social decisions. Reduced mobility means for example that individuals should travel less far to forage or forage in safer areas- changing who they associate with. Age linked changes in diet could also drive social changes. Efficiency in nutrient absorption declines with age. Older individuals may therefore need to spend longer foraging, or forage on different foods, to compensate for this loss, which will in turn drive changes in patterns of social association.

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